A 1960s postcard in which Opua is described as the railhead of the Bay of Islands, but it has not seen NZR trains since 1985 and tourist trains from Kawakawa since 2001 when the Land Transport Authority decided the track was in too poor condition, although there is a possibility that these may resume at some stage. See earlier posts.

A 1980s scene of preserved 4-8-2 steam engine J1211 running along the main street in Kawakawa with a tourist train to Opua. This was before the bullet nose streamlining was (re)added in 1988.

Despite the diplomatic stand off between the US and Cuba since the Cuban revolution in 1959, that didn't prevent Cuba from putting classic American cars on their stamps in 2002. Many American cars from before the revolution can be seen in Cuba, although frequently they have been re-engined and reconditioned from Russian parts. Left to right, top to bottom: 1956 Pontiac Catalina; 1951 Hudson Hornet; 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air; 1959 Cadillac Fleetwood; 1957 Mercedes Benz 190 SL (German of course); 1957 Mercury Monterrey.

Roadside and trackside views of the depot built in the golden days of passenger train travel. After passenger traffic ceased through here in 1971, Union Pacific had no further use for the building and demolished it in 1973.

It is one of the buildings that must have influenced the architects of the former Auckland Railway Station in Beach Road which was opened in 1930 and closed with the opening of the Britomart Transport Centre in 2003, see earlier post.

Two views, likely taken on the same day, of traffic in Wellington's main shopping street of Lambton Quay (originally it was the shoreline), probably late 1940s. The top view is the intersection of Lambton Quay (to the left), Customhouse Quay (to the right) and Willis Street (the continuation of Customhouse Quay which begins at this point).

The lower view shows a tram about half way along, with the once well-known Drapery Importing Company or DIC department store to the left. This building still exists, but the lower level is now separate boutiques. All the buildings on the right except one have now been demolished and replaced.

But in Ireland, not in Nazi Germany. The Swastika Laundry was founded in 1912, and was located on Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, a district of Dublin. The delivery vans, of which an example is seen here, were electric powered. With Ireland being neutral in WW2 the simultaneous use of the swastika - used by the laundry in its original good luck context (although you can't help wondering about the colour scheme) - by Nazi Germany didn't cause any problems for them, and apparently it continued to be used into the 1980s.

The station was opened in 1908 and at the time was a grand structure. It progressively deteriorated until the 1980s when refurbishing took place. Details of Amtrak's present Master Plan for the station here (pdf, 15 mB)

While on the subject of Queen Vic, here are a couple more Wellington edifices from the 1890s to her glory: a giant statue of her in Post Office Square (in reality she was only 4'11") and Victoria College, now Victoria University of Wellington. Given the sprawling complex that VUW is now, it's hard to appreciate that this is all it began with in 1899, what is now the Hunter Building and even this was later added to. About the only VUW building of architectural distinction, a campaign was required to save it from demolition and replacement by another high rise in the 1970s.

A view of the parking lot and the Admiral Bryd memorial (see earlier post) at the top of Mt Victoria in Wellington. In front is what looks like a 1959 Ford Anglia, followed by a 1964 Ford Zephyr, a Vauxhall and a Fiat 500. In front of the memorial are a Holden, 1940s Ford Prefect and a Volkswagen Beetle.

Friday, September 28, 2012

The original bridge over the Wanganui River in the city area and a view of a tram about to turn the corner from The Avenue (Victoria Avenue) into Taupo Quay. See earlier posts for more pics like these.

The
left engine has the nozzle fully open, showing that #1 engine was developing no power.

The
white thing is the seat-stabilazing drogue chute. The pilot’s head is pinned to his chest from the
severe “G” forces produced by
the solid rocket motors in the ACES II seat. They burn for about 2/10ths of a second ... enough time
to propel him at least 60
feet (20 metres) clear of the aircraft.

Impressive photos of an accident in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. The sequence shows the canopy leaving the scene, the pilot in his rocket-powered seat exiting, the parachute opening sequence, and the separated seat falling away. All of this happened in about two seconds from canopy off to the fireball. The pilot survived ok. (Thanks to Cliff for sending this in)

The latest in the Shire series of mini-pictorial albums covers farm life in Britain during the 1920s and 1930s which was the period when traditional horse drawn methods became mechanised with tractors and motor vehicles. As with other Shire albums it is fairly superficial, designed for those who like a collection of photos and illustrations (a mix of monochrome and color) and a bit of background text. And like other Shire albums it has 64 pages in A5 (15 x 21 cm) format, softcovered.

Not honored on banknotes (and unlikely to be), but their fame has been marked and acknowledged in other forms, including on this stamp issue - Richard Pearse (1877-1953) was a pioneering contemporary of the Wright Brothers, except in NZ, and Jean Batten (1909-1982) made record breaking solo flights around the world in the 1930s.

Not dated, but probably circa 1940. "In the land of Hiawatha" is a reference to the region, according to one definition, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan along the shore of Lake Superior, also known as Gitchee Gumee.

This double track funicular system has been operating since 1926 and since 2009 has been run by the Friends of the Babbacombe Cliff Railway. It looks to be about 200 metres in length, but while there are some details of technology, that statistic, and the gradient and gauge, don't seem to appear in their website.

A couple of this iconic French car - produced from 1960 to 1975 - in the 11.61 km (7.215 mile) long, 8.6 metre (28 ft) wide, and 4.35 metre (14.3 ft) high tunnel opened between France and Italy in July 1965, probably taken not long after opening.

As 404 is now associated with Internet error messages, it's not a name that would be used today.

Further back are a Renault Dauphine and a Citroen DS, likewise iconic French cars.

On either side of the Théâtre Municipal are automobile signs: Fiat and Renault. Among other vehicles on the streets can be seen a Citroen ID DS, Traction, 2CV, Panhard PL 17, Renault Dauphine, Simca 1000, Ariane and a Peugeot 404. It looks like a traffic policier in the bottom right.

Technically very similar to the DSB's ME class (see earlier post), 5 of this class were delivered by Henschel to the Norwegian State Railways in 1981. They are now used solely to haul passenger trains on the non-electrified Nordlandsbanen between Trondheim and Bodo as seen above. They are Co-Co type, fitted with an EMD 16-645E V16 prime mover rated at 3,300 hp (2,450 kW).

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

North Platte, Nebraska, is best known for Union Pacific's giant Bailey Yard, but is it also the hometown of Buffalo Bill. Inspired by that, the Fort Cody Trading Post opened in 1963 and has been in continual operation since. The
first Fort Cody (pictured about the time it opened) was on US Highway 30 at
the western end of North Platte. The
second and present Fort Cody was built to coincide with the opening of
Interstate 80 in 1968 and has remained at this location since.

A photo from about 1971 showing a Fiat railcar on its way to the Wairarapa stopped in Petone with the sign for the Todd Motors car assembly factory visible above the station awning. The Hillman sign belonged to the same operation. See earlier posts.

Freshly arrived from the 'mother country' and emblazoned with both the name of the manufacturer and the customer, a Leyland truck is seen on Wellington wharves after being unloaded and prior to being driven 100 miles (160 km) north over rather basic and steep roads. Not dated but probably circa WW1. According to the lettering this was the Palmerston North Borough Council's second truck!

Is the gentleman a local representative of the manufacturer, or someone from the Palmerston North council keen to demonstate to the locals what their new machine will do?

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All at Sea: stories of New Zealand seafarers

Narratives from interviews conducted over several years with 16 merchant navy sailors - 14 men and 2 women - who recounted their stories from the last full fledged sailing ship, the Pamir being returned to her home country of Finland after WWII to recent stories on today's inter-island ferries and coastal vessels, as well as international cargo and passenger ships which sailed to various parts of the globe. A full range of occupations are covered from Deck Boy, Engineer, Steward to Master as well as harbour pilots, union leaders and shipping company executives.

NZR Memorabilia

A fabulous new book containing many colourful illustrations of old postcards, pamphlets, posters, and a wide range of objects that have been used by the NZR and its personnel from the 1860s to the present time. Together they tell in visual form the importance of NZR to NZ and its people over the past 150 years and provides a useful reference for collectors.

Voyage to Gallipoli

Details of the troopships to the Gallipoli campaign of WW1 and more WW1 naval history.